The Time Machine (1960)

Director:

George Pal

Writers:

David Duncan (screenplay)
H.G. Wells (novel)

Release Date:

17 August 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

You Will Orbit into the Fantastic Future!

Plot:

A Victorian Englishman travels to the far future and finds that humanity has divided into two hostile species.

Plot Keywords:

Future | Time Machine | River | Air Raid | Stop Motion Animation

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Rod Taylor	...	H. George Wells
Alan Young	...	David Filby / James Filby
Yvette Mimieux	...	Weena
Sebastian Cabot	...	Dr. Philip Hillyer
Tom Helmore	...	Anthony Bridewell
Whit Bissell	...	Walter Kemp
Doris Lloyd	...	Mrs. Watchett

Also Known As:

H.G. Wells' The Time Machine (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)
Die Zeitmaschine (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
A Máquina do Tempo (Brazil) [pt]
Aikakone (Finland) [fi]
El tiempo en sus manos (Spain) [es]
L'uomo che visse nel futuro (Italy) [it]
La machine à explorer le temps (France) (video title) [fr]
O arxon tou kosmou (Greece) [el]
Rædselsrejsen (Denmark) [da]
Tidsmaskinen (Sweden) [sv]
Vremeplov (Serbia) [sr]

Runtime:

103 min | Australia:89 min (video version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm optical prints) | 4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) (35 mm magnetic prints)

Certification:

Norway:16 (1960) | Iceland:12 | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | Netherlands:AL | Australia:G (alternate rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Canada:PG | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Norway:11 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Culver City, California, USA

Company:

George Pal Productions

Trivia:

George Pal had long planned to do a sequel to this film. Several submitted scripts were reportedly rejected by MGM.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the atomic bomb explodes in 1966 London, all the buildings, cars, etc., are instantly incinerated; but in close-up George is shown laying flat on perfect, unburned green grass, unscathed, and the time machine is equally undamaged, sitting undisturbed beside blossoming, untouched foliage.

Quotes:

Filby: He's got all the time in the world.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Futurama: Space Pilot 3000 (#1.1)" (1999)

A Firm Favourite

The original film version of THE TIME MACHINE is almost certainly the best adaption of any of H G Wells work and deserves its status as a classic SF film. That`s not to say it`s without flaws , it starts very slowly and I found Filby`s obviously false Scottish accent very irritating ( Notice when a Scotsman appears in a SF film or series his accent is poor ? Scottie from STAR TREK , Jamie Mcrimmon from DOCTOR WHO etc ) , but once the hero goes off into the future it`s entertainment all the way.

Special mention should go to the very intelligent script, it does simplify much of Wells subtext but also adds an anti war theme , you can actually believe the hero`s thought processes came out of the mouth of Wells , and during the nuclear war the Earth show`s its anger at mankind with a series of devastating volcanic eruptions. Is this the first time that " the Gia Theory " has appeared on film ?

Perhaps the greatest compliment I can pay this film is that it reminded me of the early DOCTOR WHO stories . Praise indeed